Red Dead Runaways
by Victor-Shade
Summary: "Ross, this man paid for his crimes, even though you can't erase the past, he still deserves to live"  "Well then make your choice Fordham, the Good guys, or the Bad Guys?"  "The Good sir."
1. Decisions

As sweat dripped down his face, he watched Jack and Abigail ride off over the hill, past the fence until they disappeared over the horizon. He walked to the barn doors and opened them a crack. He saw about 2 dozen soldiers outside… also in disgust he saw Agent Ross and Agent Fordham.

"Those damn government bastards, I'm not going to die at their will!" John thought to himself.

He looked to his right and saw a ladder. He had a plan. He climbed up the ladder and crouched down. He gazed through the opening on the level he was on. They were all fixated on that door. "Stupid fools should have paid more attention when kidnapping my family!" He thought angrily. He looked in his satchel. 5 sticks of dynamite left from his escapades in Mexico.

"This is it". John thought as he readied the dynamite.

"Where is that bastard?" Agent Ross asked. He was answered in silence.

"Fordham, I thought you'd be excited to kill him, getting this thorn out of my foot is going to be the highlight of my years!"

Agent Fordham looked at him, grimaced, and then replied. "sir, I don't understand, he did as we asked, he killed 2 of his old friends and handed one to us. Why are we killing him?"

Agent Ross rolled his eyes and told him. "If we just let him be, he will just go on another murderous rampage! That how serial killers work Fordham!"

Fordham was now getting annoyed. "Sir, his case files just show that he only killed 10 innocents, and eye witnesses showed that he cursed after he did, definitely not a serial killer bio, and they were all killed differently, and they all had no connection to each other what so ever." Agent Fordham explained.

"Let's just get this over with, I want to see the lights go out of his eyes!" Agent Ross said maniacally. Agent Fordham just had it. "Sir," Agent Fordham said with a tremble in his voice.

"What now!" Agent Ross complained

"I'M NOT GOING TO KILL AN INNOCENT MAN! I QUIT!"

Archer Fordham took out his badge and threw it on the ground, along with his bowler hat, and squished them into the ground, and started walking towards the exit when he heard a series of explosions, screams of terror and blood splattering against his jacket. He took off his jacket and turned around to see John Marston in the hay opening. He sighed and said. "John, I am so sorry, for everything." John was calm and said. "I forgive you, but what are you going to do now?" He walked up to where Agent Ross' body was. He pulled out his High powered Pistol and shot his brains out.

"I'm joining you John." Archer Fordham told him.

"Are you sure?" John asked.

"Positive."


	2. Reunited

Jack was riding off to Montana Ford to stay at MacFarlane's Ranch with Abigail. It was the only place he ever been in Hennigan's Stead, as far as he remembered at least. He had to get there as fast as he could. But as he started down the road to the Pacific Railroad Camp, he heard a series of explosions, then a Pistol shot.

Abigail started to say. "Jack did you hear that? We have to go back!"

Jack replied. "Way ahead of you Ma!"

He turned around and rode off, while pulling out his Repeater Carbine. He rode off faster than he had ever before.

"Damn it!" He thought angrily. "Why did those Army fellas want to kill us? Poor Uncle, I wish that there was something I could've done."

As they entered the Ranch they noticed that the barn doors were blown up, so they decided to head for the house instead. Since Jack and Abigail were on the same horse, the horse stopped a bit too late so they had to go in the back way. As they entered they saw a bloody John leaving the living room with a Sawed-Off Shotgun.

"Jesus Jack, you scared me. Could've shot you." John said concerned.

Jack smiled and said. "And it's nice to see you too Pa." John came towards them both and hugged them.

"We thought you were dead John." Abigail said happily. "Don't ever leave us."

John smiled. "Like I always told Jack when ever we went off hunting, I ain't going nowhere."

Archer yelled from the guest room and said. "John, I think he's okay for now, but we need to get him to a real doctor!"

"Who's that?" Abigail asked sternly as she separated from the group hug.

John chuckled a bit then said. "A new friend."

Jack and Abigail went around John to the living room to find Archer tending to a wound on Uncles' chest on the couch.

"Uncle!" Jack and Abigail said almost in sync.

Archer turned his head and said. "Hello Jack."

"Hey!" Jack said surprisingly. "You were the Man that told me the stories!"

"Never mind that Jack! Uncle's alive!" Abigail said.

True enough. He was alive. "Turns out the shot just hit his lower left rib, so he only has a broken Rib." John Explained.

"But what's going to happen to us?" Jack asked. "We can't stay here; they'll come looking for us!"

Everyone was silent. Then John said. "I have a plan. Archer, get on Jacks horse and ride to Blackwater. Buy a Wagon and come back here. Abigail, get food, blankets, and supplies and put them in our wagon. Jack and I will help uncle into the back of the other wagon when it comes back. In the meantime, we'll help Abigail pack up the Wagon."

Archer asked. "Can I get some new clothes first? And a different weapon, I don't want this pistol anymore."

John sighed and said. "Fine, Here's a Schofield Revolver and a Springfield Rifle, clothes are In the attic."

Two minutes later Archer comes down wearing a blue buttoned shirt, Top 2 buttons undone, Black Jeans, a Revolver holder, a Rifle Holder, and a brown cowboy hat on his head.

"How do I look?" Archer asked Abigail, for she was packing valuables and supplies in the kitchen.

She looked at him and said. "Fine, now go get that wagon!"

So he went off to Blackwater and got the wagon.

10 minutes later, he was back and they were waiting to get on with it. They loaded Uncle onto the wagon using an old stretcher and then they put all of there things on and they were off.


	3. New Questions

Jack was staring behind the wagon as it went by. He looked through the supplies and found binoculars and an old satchel.

He thought to himself. "Meh, why not?" And put on the satchel and put the binoculars in it. He was starting to feel like a real cowboy. He kept looking through the supplies. He found a twin revolver belt with 2 revolvers still in them. They were pretty old; he recognized them as being twin revolvers since the both had a scorpion on the handles. "Weird…I should ask Uncle about this, they look older than him!" he put them back in the supplies box and kept looking. He found an ammo belt with a holster so he took that, it had a LeMat Revolver in it.

"Now this is more like it. Is there a rifle holster too?" He thought to himself. And sure enough there was one. He put it on his back. He looked around for his Repeater Carbine. "Damn it. Forgot it at the Ranch, oh well, what else is in here?"

He looked through it all, and he found a Pump-Action Shotgun.

"All right, things are starting to look better." He thought cheerfully as he lay back enjoying the scenery.

They went over some train tracks when Uncle awoke. He a few times adjusting to the sunlight. Smelled the air, it was as it smelled any day passing a railroad camp, but at the time he didn't know that.

He thought to himself. "Now what did I do to deserve hell? Sure I kind off gave my life to the bottle but really? Sure I shot a few people back in the day, but there were all guilty of something." But then he looked around. He saw he was in a wagon, He saw John sitting on the edge, and he saw they were passing through a railroad camp. "What a relief, I'm not in Hell, just a damn Railroad camp." Uncle said weakly.

"We'll see about that Old Man." John chuckled to himself, and then he got a bit more serious and asked. "While we were cleaning your wound, I took off your glove, and found a scar on your right hand in the shape of a scorpion. Now tell me, where did you get that?" John asked.

Uncle looked down to see his right-hand bare and true enough, he saw a scorpion scar.

He told John. "I'll tell you when we are safer. Not while we are on the run."

"Okay, I'll ask again." John said reluctantly. "But you're going to tell me soon."

As they crossed Montana Ford, They found the main road leading to MacFarlane's Ranch. They entered the Ranch. Abigail stopped the Wagon in front of the MacFarlane's House, while Archer kept on going to John's Hut he owned there. Jack jumped off the wagon to help unload Uncle. Abigail knocked on the front door. She was greeted by Bonnie. "Hi Mrs. Marston, what brings you here?" Bonnie asked.

Abigail told her the story, from the beginning. "...so I guess that's why we are here."

By then they were in the living sitting down. "Good Lord, what a hardship." She was really sincere when she said that. "

Well, what's mine is yours, you can stay here as long as you'd like."

Right then John came in. "The doctor said that Uncle's going to be fine Abigail he just needs some rest." John said.

"John, your wife told me the whole story, you can stay in our house, we have plenty of spare rooms." Bonnie said to John.

"That's mighty kind of you. I'll see you later Bonnie."


	4. Young Love

As John left, Jack came in with Archer into the House.

"Hello Ms. MacFarlane. I'd like you to meet Archer Fordham, the man that saved Uncle's life."

"Hello Mr. Fordham." Bonnie said.

"Hello to you to Ms. Macfarlane. Sorry to meet you like this, but then again we might have never met in the first place."

"I figured, if we are staying here for a bit, might as well know who's were living with."

"That's very kind of you Jack."

Just as she said that a girl came down from upstairs.

"Aunt Bonnie, what's all the commotion about?" the girl asked.

Jack noticed she didn't have a western accent.

"Well, the woman sitting on the Couch is Mrs. Marston, This Man right her is Mr. Fordham, and the boy is Jack Marston. They are all staying here for a while Carla." Bonnie explained.

"Oh okay. Can I show them where they will be sleeping?"

"Sure, Make sure you give Mrs. Marston a double bed, she has a husband!"

**4 hours later**

Jack looked around his room. There was a mirror, a cabinet, a single bed, a bathtub that was fully operational with a sink, a box of his books and some other clothes, and a chair.

"Roomier that my other room." He thought to himself.

He locked his door. He was having a bath. It was the first one since his solo hunting trip, hoping that the dirt and dust would hide the scars. He figured that John already told Abigail about that and how cut up he was, so why keep hiding it? He spent about 10 minutes in the bath tub, and then he got out and drained it. He used his clothes to dry himself, and then he realized he was drying himself with his clothes. He cursed under his breath and looked through the box for other clothes; all he found was brown jeans, a black leather vest, white shirt, and black boots with spurs. Then fit him pretty good. Then he decided to throw the other clothes in a "dirty" pile. He laid back on his bed and then picked up a book and started to read. He was about a quarter done the 4th chapter when there was a knock on the door. He bookmarked the book and then got up for the door. "It's probably Ma checking up on me to see if I was settling in." No it wasn't. It was Carla.

"Hi" she said. "Want to talk?"

Jack was a bit confused. He didn't even know her, and he was pretty sure he had no mental issues.

"Sure." He said. He didn't know what to say, he couldn't have just said no.

There was a minute of an awkward silence between the two.

Jack decided to break it by saying. "Why are you here?"

Carla replied by saying. "I could ask you the same thing."

Jack was stunned; he only got this kind of conversation when talking to Pa.

"Well, my story is kind of long, so let's start with you. Why did you want to talk to me?

She sighed and then said. "I guess there's no one else to talk to."

"Thank you for making my day, I just _love _being the guy last on your list to talk to." He said sarcastically.

"Whoa! That's not what I meant! There is no one else to talk to because everyone on the Ranch that's not over 26, and it's not that great of conversations either, they all talk about hay or stories about shooting."

Jack felt sorry for her, no one that truly could talk to her. "Well then let's talk. Where are you from?"

She replied. "I'm from Backwater. My mother had me home schooled me since I could remember. I usually stayed indoors because there was nothing to do for a girl like me out in Backwater. The only time I ever came out was to get the newspaper for my dad and sometimes to eat at the restaurant. 2 years ago my mother died of influenza. 2 weeks ago I was sent here to live until my dad got back from a business trip, so I was sent here to stay with my Aunt. So now it's your turn."

Jack told her his story. "I was raised in a different part of Texas in a Town called Brimstone. I had 3 Uncle's, Uncle Dutch, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Javier. They weren't really my Uncles. They were all in a gang with my Pa, Dutch was the leader. When they were robbing a bank, pa was injured and they left him. He decided to change his ways and leave the gang and so he moved to the Great Plains and bought some land called Breachers Hope and started a Ranch their, got a ranch hand from brimstone the man we all call Uncle, and life was normal. Till the government kidnapped us and blackmailed pa to kill my 3 uncles or he wouldn't see us again. So for a month he's been searching for them to get us free. Then today the Army came and tried to kill Pa, but pa killed them, and Agent Fordham saw that our government was crumbling so he decided to be on the good guys' team. And here we are!" There was another awkward silence.

"Oh my god. I…wow. I don't know what to say." Carla said. "Well, see you Tomorrow Jack, you going to help us with the Horses?"

"Okay, will do, Goodnight."

As they both left for their rooms, they both knew they liked each other, but they weren't so sure if the other liked them back.


	5. DeadEye

Jack yawned as he walked out of the house.

"Need to get used to that bed now." He thought to himself. "Ought to see what the Blackwater Ledger has to say about our big escape?"

He walked pass the horse corral and went to the train station to pick up a Newspaper.

"EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! AMERICAN ARMY MOVES INTO SETTLEMENTS IN WEST ELIZABETH!" The newspaper man cried out for everyone to hear.

"Oh god, now I have to see this." Jack thought. "Nothing good can come of this."

Jack Bought the Newspaper and read it.

Jack read" American Army moves into Settlements in West Elizabeth, _blah blah blah_, great number of soldiers, _blah blah blah_, reasons still unknown, _blah blah blah_, the list is follows, Cochinay, Manzanita Post, Pacific Union R.R. camp, and Breechers Hope, _blah blah blah_, Building a new fort in the Northern Regions of the great Plains, _blah blah blah_, Weaponry for Privates, a Cattleman Revolver and a Repeater Carbine, Weaponry for Corporals, a Schofield Revolver, a Springfield Rifle and 10 fire bottles, Weaponry for Sergeants, a LeMat Revolver, a Pump-Action Shotgun, and 10 fire bottles, and Weaponry for Captains, a Double-Action Revolver, a Henry Repeater, and 10 sticks of Dynamite."

He folded the paper up and put it in his satchel. He was going to help with the horses like he said but then.

"Jack!"

Jack looked up and saw John.

"Hi Pa, how's it going?" Jack asked hoping for some better news.

"Walk with me Jack; I'm going to teach you something."

Jack replied with "Okay."

They walked over behind the cabins to where the targets were.

"Now what?" Jack asked

"You're going to shoot all the targets one after another not stopping for even half a second." John said.

Jack was surprised. He looked at the target. It was at least 15 feet away. There was no way he could do that let alone hit a target. He looked at the targets, he focused on them then suddenly everything went an orange colour. Jack dropped the LeMat revolver and stumbled back. Everything was all right again.

"Jack! What happened?" John asked.

Jack blinked, still shaken up. "I-It was all orange. I-I don't know what really happened."

John looked at him and smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" Jack asked.

"You have it."

"Have what?"

"Dead-eye."

They both sat down in the living room. It was silent for awhile, and then Jack broke it.

"What is Dead-eye?"

John leaned back in his chair and looked up, then looked back at Jack. "I'm guessing it's something to do with the brain, all I know is it's not common and it's one of the best gifts any Gunslinger in the Old West can have. I found out about my Dead-eye when living on the streets. A group of muggers were going to rob me, I refused, they pulled their guns out, but everything went slow when they touched the handles, everything turned orange and slowed down, I decided to use this time to shoot them, 3 direct shots to the head, I looked around, then I saw someone, who I found out was Uncle Dutch. He asked what happened, I told pretty well what you said when I asked, so he told me his story and what it was, and that's how I joined his gang."

There was another long silence between them.

"So…what does this mean? Does this mean that I'm destined to be a gunslinger?"

John frowned.

"I don't know, but you can be anything you want to be."

"Pa," Jack said. I'd like to practice in private."

John nodded and left for the corral.

Jack went to the target area and picked up his LeMat Revolver.

He smiled as he looked at it.

"John Marston and son, outlaws to the end." Jack thought. "I like the sound of that."


	6. Ranchers and City Folk

Archers woke up to a slight rapping at the door. He looked around his room. There was a Desk, a sink, a chair, a bed (which he was sleeping on), and a grandfather clock. He glanced the time and it was 1:00 P.M.

"Must have slept in a bit." He thought to himself. "I wonder who that could be. Maybe it's John or Jack, who knows until they find out."

He got up. He looked down. He answered the door. It was Bonnie, the girl Jack introduced him to.

He said. "Good morning." As he yawned.

"Come on! Haven't you ever worked in the Morning?"

He blinked a few times. "I used to work late shifts at my old work; I'm used waking up this late." He replied lazily.

Bonnie looked at him scornfully. "Where did you work?"

"As an F.B.I. Agent at the F.B.I. Building in Blackwater."

She looked at him awkwardly and said. "F.B.I?"

He closed his eyes. "**F**ederal **B**ureau of **I**nvestigation, I believe you call us "them government agents" down here"

She was startled. "Then why are you with John?"

"I saw that the system was crumbling down and decided to be on the good guys' team. So I went with John."

"Okay, well, after you put on a shirt you have to come by the horse corral."

He looked down and saw he had no shirt on. "Why the Horse Corral though?"

She put her hand on her hip and said. "To get you a new horse!" Then she walked out the door.


	7. A Boy and his Horse

Archer looked for his Blue shirt to put on. "Wow was that something? I mean, was she flirting with me or acting the way she always does? This shouldn't be so hard; I'm an F.B.I. Agent for crying out loud! Do I have feelings for her? What should I do?" He thought for a moment. "Unless she shows any actual emotion for me, I won't do anything."

He was already walking out the door when he thought that. He walked past the general store and saw the corral.

"Come on Mr. Fordham! The horses are waiting!" Bonnie yelled out to him.

He nodded and jumped over the gate. He looked at the horses. He had no clue which one was good or which one was bad. He stood their looking around.

"What are you waiting for pick one and ride around!" Bonnie yelled out.

He saw a brown horse with a black mane. He got on and started to ride. It was okay until he tried going actual running with the horse then he got bucked off.

"Damn it!" he cried out.

"HA HA HA! That made my day!" Bonnie yelled. "Out of all the Horses you picked Buckaroo! The wildest horse we have here!"

There was silence.

"Mr. Fordham?"

Still silence.

"I'm okay! Just getting my air back!" He hollered back.

Bonnie walked over. "Why are you still laying there?"

"Making sure nothing is broken."

Bonnie was puzzled. "Why would you think that?"

He breathed in heavily. "When I was 13, my friends and I decided to head to Mexico for the Holidays. We went to Escarla, and went to the bull fight arena in the president's mansion. There were no bulls, just one horse, so we decided who would ride it first and it was me. I got on it, but I think I should've noticed it was sleeping, it bucked me off right when I got on and started trampling me. Once my friends got me out of their they found I had a broken arm, a broken leg, a dislocated jaw, a few broken ribs and very serious bruises, the oldest one of them, who was 17, got a wagon, loaded me on it, and drove off to America before we were caught trespassing in the Manor. Since that day, I have only ridden twice, today and yesterday."

By then Bonnies' jaw was open. "Damn, that must've really had an impact on you. I feel sincerely sorry." They were both silent. "I have a perfect horse for you, and I think you're okay now Mr. Fordham."

He got up and said "Thank you, and call me Archer."

She was off looking around and found her on the other side and rode to Archer.

"This is Pepper, the nicest horse I've ever met, and the fastest of her breed."

Archer looked at Pepper, and Pepper looked back. He got on, and ran with her she was going fast. He toke his hands off the reins and held them pointing outwards, feeling the wind flow past his body.

He stopped the Horse near Bonnie and asked. "What do you want me to do?"

She smiled and said. "Get more acquainted with Pepper. Then tomorrow you can herd the cows to the pasture for grazing, bring fresh hay to the horses in the corral, and come with Carla, Pa, Jack and Abigail, to break some horses. Oh, and go to the store tomorrow to sell some milk, make sure 20.00 per liter, that Herbert Moon can rip you off if your not care full."

He smiled and replied. "Make me a to do list for me and you got yourself a deal." Then he rode off on the trails.


End file.
